Shaggy Rogers

Norville "Shaggy" Rogers is a fictional character from the American animated television series Scooby-Doo, about the adventures of four crime-solving teenagers and Shaggy's pet Great Dane, Scooby-Doo. Shaggy is a cowardly slacker more interested in eating than solving mysteries. He and Scooby are the only characters to appear in all iterations of the franchise.

Contents

Character description

Shaggy has a characteristic speech pattern, marked by his frequent use of the hedge word "like" and, when startled, his exclamations of "Zoinks!". His nickname derives from the shaggy style of his sandy-blond hair. He also sports a rough goatee. His distinctive clothing consists of a green v-neck T-shirt and brownish red bell-bottom pants. In The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo and early made-for-TV movies, he wore a red v-neck and blue bell-bottoms.

Both Scooby and Shaggy are readily bribed with Scooby Snacks due to their mutual big appetites. Both display tendencies toward loafing and cowardice. Both justify their hunger by insisting that "Being in a constant state of terror makes us constantly hungry!" in Scooby Doo on Zombie Island. Shaggy's favorite dish is "extra cheese pizza with pickles" (as revealed in the TV movie Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo). In "Bedlam in the Big Top", he says he used to be in track and in "What A Night For A Knight", that he was a gymnast - both of which hint at his uncanny skills in quickly evading villains and the reason he is invariably assigned the role of bait in Freddy's traps. Due to being in track he has shown, in some instances, to be able to run even faster than Scooby, even when the latter is running on all fours. An early episode "A Clue for Scooby-Doo" (from the inaugural Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! series) reveals that his taste for unlikely food combinations (chocolate covered hot dogs, and liverwurst a la mode, for example) is a consequence of an infant Shaggy receiving a garbage disposal unit for his first toy. In Scooby-Doo and the Monster of MexicoFreddy states that the reason Shaggy eats so much is his "high metabolism." Shaggy has shown himself capable of impressive feats of athleticism through fear alone; however, these abilities are invariably of a comic nature, with Shaggy only seeming capable of such feats when panicked. In Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare, in frustration at being trapped, he shakes the iron bars of an old-fashioned jail cell so hard they collapse.

Shaggy's typical immediate reaction to experiences or perceptions of supposed supernatural occurrences is terror-struck cowardice. This was explained in the Legend of the Phantosaur as a possible type of panic disorder; in this instance he was temporarily cured with hypnotherapy.

Development

The four teenage lead characters of Scooby-Doo were inspired by four of the main characters from the 1959-63 American television sitcomThe Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, with Shaggy having been derived from the character Maynard G. Krebs, as played by Bob Denver.[1] Maynard's beatnik-style goatee, general appearance, and use of the word "like" as a form of punctuation all found their way into the character of Shaggy, with the base personality of the character updated to make him a hippie rather than a beatnik.[2]

Casey Kasem, the first voice actor for Shaggy, said that he originally felt uncomfortable after being assigned to Shaggy. Kasem stated that while he was "hip to what hippies were about," he had never before portrayed a hippie character. Kasem had wanted to portray Fred Jones, and Frank Welker had wanted to portray Shaggy. Instead, the CBS network assigned Kasem to Shaggy and Welker to Fred.[3] Unsure of what the voice of a hippie would sound like, Kasem based his vocal style and mannerisms for Shaggy on those of Richard Crenna's character Walter Denton from the radio/televisionsitcomOur Miss Brooks.[4]

Kasem stated that as he continued to voice Shaggy, the character evolved. Kasem explained that the "voice dynamics" improved and that his laughs increasingly gained quality. Kasem added that Shaggy in 2002 is "more frightened today than he was at the beginning."[3] Kasem convinced the producers that Shaggy should be a vegetarian, like himself, in 2002.[5][6]

Actors

Shaggy was originally voiced by Casey Kasem, who continued in the role for twenty-eight years before his retirement in 2010 and his death in 2014. Billy West voiced him in Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island. Scott Innes (who has also voiced Scooby and Scrappy-Doo) briefly took over the role in several of the direct-to-video films produced in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Innes reprised Shaggy in Space Ghost Coast to Coast in 2002 and 2005 and a DirecTV commercial featuring the Scooby gang in 2008. Kasem again returned to the role in 2002 for The WB's new series, What's New, Scooby-Doo?, as well as providing Shaggy's voice in all the animated movies produced between 2002 and 2009.

The 2003 live action film Looney Tunes: Back In Action features a comical scene in which Matthew Lillard has lunch with the animated Shaggy character. Shaggy expresses frustration with how Lillard played him in the 2002 "Scooby-Doo" film.

Maggie "Sugie" Rogers: Shaggy's younger sister. Seen in A Pup Named Scooby-Doo.

Wilfred: Maggie's fiancé/husband, and Shaggy's brother-in-law.

Gaggy Rogers: Shaggy's uncle, who likes to play practical jokes.

Uncle Shagworthy: Shaggy's rich uncle. Not only does he look like his nephew — he has the same appetite and cowardice. He keeps his most precious possession, food, in a secret refrigerator with valuable jewels. Voiced by Casey Kasem.

Uncle Beauregard: Shaggy's late uncle, who left his entire fortune and his Southern mansion and plantation to Shaggy in his will. He was referred to in Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers, although he never made an appearance when he was living. He appeared as a ghost and was one of the villains in the movie.

Background

In some of the Scooby-Doo series, Shaggy is born in Coolsville. When he was old enough to go to school he adopted Scooby Doo from the Knittingham Puppy Farm. Later on, he met Fred Jones, Velma Dinkley and Daphne Blake. They became friends and they decided to be a team named Mystery Inc. (short for Mystery Incorporated).

In Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, he is born in and is a citizen of Crystal Cove. His parents' names are Colton and Paula Rogers. He is a member of the new Mystery Incorporated.

Reception

Some viewers of the original Scooby-Doo believed that Shaggy smoked marijuana due to his antics and constant hunger. In a Newsweek article, Casey Kasem was asked if he had ever observed that subtext in the series and Kasem responded that "there wasn't anything like that at all", explaining "guess it's because, I don't know, it was a wholesome show from beginning to end" and was not aware of the fan viewpoint until the interviewer brought it up.[3] Parodying the subtext, the makers of Scooby-Doo film shot several scenes referring to Shaggy's supposed drug use, but few of those scenes were included in the final film product.[3]Matthew Lillard, the actor who portrays Shaggy in the film, does not think Shaggy smokes marijuana: "He just seems like that. He acts a little goofy and high, he's lovable and scared - and just happens to have the munchies."[7]

In addition, in an online radio interview with host Stu Shostak, series creators Joe Ruby and Ken Spears recalled that they never intended for Shaggy to be a smoker of marijuana, and "took umbrage" to the inclusion of allusions to such in the 2002 Scooby-Doo live-action feature film.[2]